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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25421353">Eyes For You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PomeloWrites/pseuds/PomeloWrites'>PomeloWrites</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Imprinting, Korean Characters, wolfpack</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:09:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,355</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25421353</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PomeloWrites/pseuds/PomeloWrites</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When her dark brown orbs met certain brown ones filled with sadness and anger, she never looked away.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Paul Lahote/Original Character(s), Paul Lahote/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Twilight: Wolfpack Fics</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga, just my OCs. Also, face claims of the Original Characters are at the end of the first chapter, enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>Change has never scared Astoria Reed, but when her father decided to move their family from the bustling city of New York to a small town called La Push almost a year after their mother's passing, she had a gut feeling that things will be different from thereon.</p><p>Her eyes wandered around the vast forest that surrounded their late paternal grandparents' old home — a newly-renovated two-story house that leads to the beach on one side, overlooking the sea, and a high canopy of trees at the other.</p><p>"Isn't it breathtaking?" her eldest brother, Ezra, commented with a smile as he looked around before landing his gaze on her.</p><p>Astoria nodded, "Yeah, the last time I saw a lot of trees was somewhere in the Upstate."</p><p>"Feels like forever since we last came to visit," Gideon added.</p><p>"It's been three years, doofus," Asher — Gideon's fraternal twin — spoke, wrapping an arm around his younger sister's shoulders, causing her to look away from the view, "Hey, this move will be good for us, especially for Tobias. The kid needs it the most," He chuckled.</p><p>"You guys know that I can hear you, right?" Tobias grumbled, glaring at his older brothers, and shoved Gideon to the side while carrying a suitcase and headed inside.</p><p>After their mother passed last year and with Ezra moving out for college, their youngest began going through what Astoria called — "a phase" — because of Tobias' constant mood swings and topping it off with his dwindling school performance,  caused their father to take the physician job at the Forks Community Hospital and moved their family of six from the city to a new environment, hoping it would help Tobias.</p><p>"I could use a little help here!" the youngest called out as he went out of the house to get more stuff from their car. All the older siblings shuffled out and began helping the youngest with all their suitcases.</p><p>"Dibs on the room with the best beach view!" Asher hollered, grabbing some of the suitcases and ran inside.</p><p>Laughter can be heard from inside the house, causing a group of people who were nearby beachfront to draw their attention towards the house where the noises were coming from.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>"Did somebody move into Old Carl Reed's house?" Quil asked, his eyes fixated towards the only house on the beach before turning back to the pack.</p><p>"Yeah, apparently his only son moved in with his kids from New York after his wife passed," Embry answered. "Also, from what I heard, Dr. Reed has five kids: four of them are adopted and only one biological," he added.</p><p>"And you know this because...?" Sam — the oldest of their group and alpha of their pack — asked, raising a brow towards the younger boy.</p><p>"I overheard my mom and some old ladies at the rez talking about it just this morning," Embry admitted with a sheepish grin.</p><p>"What else do you not know?" Seth chuckled, shaking his head as he got up and was about to join the others who were playing soccer but halted when a scream was heard coming from the beach house.</p><p>Paul narrowed his eyes, "What in the hell was that?"</p><p>Before someone could even answer him, a young man with brunette hair ran out of the said house towards the beach with a horrified expression on his face.</p><p>"Gideon! Stop screaming like a girl and just throw the damn bug!" Another young man with slightly the same features as the first one followed after him while holding what looks like a bug in his hand.</p><p>"It's a bug, Asher! That fucking thing might be poisonous for all we know!" the one called Gideon retorted, waving his hands around while desperately trying to make a point.</p><p>"House bugs aren't even poisonous, stupid," a third person joined the argument, this time a younger boy with completely different features than the first two boys.</p><p>"Oh shut up, Tobias! If I suddenly get poisoned by that bug and die, I will haunt you in your dreams!" Gideon shot back.</p><p>Tobias rolled his eyes in response, "You don't scare me," he answered dryly.</p><p>The pack was watching the whole thing with amused and confused expressions on their faces.</p><p>Paul smirked, "This whole fuss because of a bug?" He turned to Jared who just laughed then chucked the soccer ball towards him.</p><p>The arguing suddenly stopped when another voice interrupted the whole thing.</p><p>"You dumbasses are being ridiculous right now. Look! You already gathered an audience because of this whole damn thing," the owner of the voice — a black-haired young man who looked a lot like the first two guys but slightly older — shot each of them glare while motioning towards the pack who were still watching them as he descended the stairs.</p><p>The three guys looked towards where the black-haired one was motioning at and their eyes widened.</p><p>"Oh, you three are in trouble now," a voice like an evening tryst spoke out of nowhere.</p><p>Paul turned towards where the voice came from, he froze and felt like his world stopped as his gaze landed on the brunette girl leaning against the staircase rail.</p><p>He watched her closely as she walked towards the one named Asher and took the bug from him then threw it towards Gideon guy who ran to hide behind his twin brother. Her actions made him burst out laughing, causing Jared to look at him weirdly.</p><p><b><em>Shit, did I just?</em></b> He thought after realizing what just happened then making a mental note to talk to Sam later before his patrol starts. Paul began feeling a pull towards the brunette girl who was now walking towards them, along with her black haired brother.</p><p>"Hey, man, you okay?" Jared asked, nudging him while looking back and forth at the unknown girl then at his friend.</p><p>"Yeah, just spaced out for a bit," Paul answered, trying his best to lie but he knew the others would find out about it later after phasing. <b><em>Fucking wolf genes</em></b>, he cursed in his head.</p><p>"Sorry about all the noise. These idiots don't know how to contain themselves most of the time," the black-haired young man walked up to Sam, smiling apologetically.</p><p>"No worries, I can somehow relate with all that," Sam chuckled. "You guys must be Old Carl Reed's grandkids, I'm Sam Uley," he added, offering a hand towards the newcomer.</p><p>"Oh yeah, I think I remember dad mentioning you before. I'm Ezra Reed, the eldest out of these weird bunch," Ezra replied, shaking Sam's hand firmly. "Those rascals are my younger brothers, Gideon, Asher, and Tobias," he pointed at the guys behind him who were now trying to wrestle each other then turned to the girl who suddenly introduced herself instead.</p><p>"Astoria Reed, the unfortunate girl who is related to these dimwits," she joked, chuckling softly then her gaze landed at Paul who was still staring at her with a curious yet longing look in his eyes. She tilted her head, blinking back at him, and flashed him a small smile.</p><p>Astoria knew she was supposed to feel uncomfortable but weirdly enough, that feeling never came. Something about the look in his eyes made her curious as to what mysteries lie in his gaze.</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>If there was one thing Paul Lahote never liked, it was changed. Sure, he was known for being a tough guy because of his appearance along with his cocky demeanor and short temper but deep down he was scared of changes.</p><p>The reason? His parents' divorce and being separated from his only sister when he was eight.</p><p>But the moment he had laid eyes on Astoria Reed, all his fears with change suddenly disappeared. Paul felt like his whole world suddenly shifted and he knew things were about to change in his life with something good when her dark brown orbs met his brown ones; he suddenly had the urge to know everything about her and be whatever she needed him to be.</p><p>He knew that it was out of character for him to freak out but he just didn't care anymore, Paul just wanted answers and advice which was why he was already on his way to Emily's place after school finished. Sam was the only one who can help him with this since he was the first one to experience all of whatever the fuck is currently happening to him right now</p><p>"Well hello to you too," Emily — Sam's fiancée — greeted him, placing a tray of huge muffins on the table. Her eyes narrowed towards the younger boy. "What's wrong?" she inquired, looking worried.</p><p>Paul took a huge muffin from the tray, stared at it for a moment before taking a bite. "Just...do you know where Sam is? I need to talk to him," he answered her.</p><p>"He's at the back, probably fixing the fence," she said, motioning towards the back door.</p><p>Before Emily could ask him any more questions, he quickly made his way to the back of the house and spotted Sam who paused from what he was doing, "Hey, no news on the redhead?" he asked.</p><p>"Aside from the fact that she tried to cross the border, there's nothing new really," Paul replied, leaning against the fence. "Oh, right, have mention that I imprinted on the Reed girl?" He casually added.</p><p>Jared suddenly appeared beside him, looking like he just got back from his patrol. "The Reed girl? What her name again? Oh right, Astoria. She's cute," he grinned, nudging Paul in the arm playfully. "I knew something was up when you were looking at her like some kind of lovesick puppy. Oh man, you're already whipped!"</p><p>Paul growled at Jared, shoving him aside. "Would you shut the hell up? This is why I wanted to tell Sam alone," he glared at his friend who still has a shit-eating grin on his face before heading back inside to get more food.</p><p>"What am I supposed to do?" he asked, turning his attention back to Sam.</p><p>"Be her friend or whatever she wants you to be, let her feel the pull on her own and just see how things progress from there," Sam advised, "Also a word of advice, try not to lose your temper around her. You don't want her to get scared and run away so soon before you can even tell her about this whole imprinting thing," he joked, patting him on the shoulder to which Paul just grunted in agreement.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>A couple of days had passed since Ezra had gone back to the university and left the four younger Reeds who had also started at their new school. The twins were already adjusting just fine, even Astoria as well. Though things were slowly becoming better for her, the twins, and Ezra, it wasn't the same case for their youngest brother. She had noticed that Tobias was avoiding them at school, Astoria wished that him avoiding them in the hallways was the only worst thing that could ever happen but she thought wrong.</p><p>She was on her way to meet with the members of the Creative Writing Club when she noticed her father walking out of the Principal's Office, Astoria quickly went to his side.</p><p>"Dad? What are you doing here? Did the twins already cause trouble?" she asked, half-joking and also praying that it was indeed the twins who got in trouble and not Tobias.</p><p>The older man just shook his head and heaved out a sigh, "I wish it was, but no," he trailed off. "The school called, they said Tobias has been skipping school for two days now," he continued, massaging his temples.</p><p>Astoria bit her lower lip as she listened to her dad, "I guess that explains why we felt like he was avoiding us and don't see him at lunch sometimes," she commented.</p><p>"I don't know what to do with him anymore, sweetheart, I've been trying so hard to understand him because I know that your mother's passing hit him the hardest. All I want for him is to finally be okay," Dr. Reed admitted, his voice quivering a bit.</p><p>Astoria placed a hand on her father's shoulder, "He's going to be okay dad, and I'll make sure of it," she reassured him.</p><p>Her father flashed her a sad smile and hugged her tight before leaving to find Tobias. She felt bad for her father, he was already doing so much and was trying very hard to be there for all of them even though he was busy with his job at the hospital. Astoria had always thought that she and her three older brothers were lucky to be adopted by him and their late mother because they made them feel like they were their own.</p><p>"Eyes on the hallway, new girl," someone suddenly spoke, interrupting her thoughts.</p><p>Astoria paused from walking to look at the owner of the voice, a smile formed on her lips when she saw Paul. Something about those brown orbs of his makes her feel safe and, weirdly enough, calm. She remembered when they first met a couple of days ago at the beach, Astoria could not look away from his gaze not until Gideon's annoying scream broke her reverie.</p><p>"Oh! Hey, sorry about that. I almost bumped into you," she apologized, smiling weakly.</p><p>Paul eyed the girl in front of him, trying to think of a better way to ask her if there was something wrong without being a creep. "You okay?" he asked.</p><p>"Yeah, I'm okay," Astoria replied, somehow feeling better that she ran into him. "I'll see you around, Paul," she walked past him but stopped just to wave before finally disappearing from the hallway.</p><p>He stood there watching her retreating figure with a slight smile on his face.</p><p>"Jared's right. You really are whipped," Embry teased as he stood beside him. Paul shoved the younger boy aside and left him by the lockers to go on his patrol.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>After her club meeting, Astoria headed straight home to check if Tobias was already there, only to find him sitting on the front porch with his head in his hands. She parked her beloved mint-colored Vespa scooter and quietly sat beside her little brother, poking his cheek with a cold carton of their favorite banana milk to get his attention.</p><p>"Dad talked to you already?" she asked him, trying to be mindful of how he was feeling at the moment. The younger one nodded then took the banana milk from her, murmuring a 'thanks' before drinking it.</p><p>"You know that you can always talk to any of us whatever it is that you're feeling or going through," Astoria reminded him.</p><p>Out of the five of them, she and Tobias had always been the closest. Her late mother once told her that she wouldn't leave Tobias' crib after they came home from the hospital when he was born, but things changed when he began distancing himself from everyone after their mom passed.</p><p>A sigh escaped from Tobias' lips, getting up from where he sat and walked inside the house to lock himself inside his room.</p><p>Astoria pursed her lips, trying to think of another way to get him to talk to her. She hated seeing her little brother hurt or sad. She looked up at the darkening sky, mentally asking for their late mother's help, and unbeknownst to her, a pair of glowing eyes watched her every move even as she went inside their house.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>Stars shone above her as Astoria admired how they twinkle in the dark sky. She always held on to the belief that when a person passes away, they become stars to guide the people they have left behind. That night she sat outside of their home with her toes dipped in the sand, silently praying to the stars that her late mother was listening to her thoughts. She was beginning to question herself, if she was doing the right thing by leaving her little brother be and what more could she do for him to be able to help him cope from losing the one person who held them all together.</p><p>"I guess I'm failing at being the big sister," she muttered to herself, chuckling sadly as she shook her head. "If Ezra was home, maybe things would be different." She Astoria sighed, hugging her knees to her chest. She had always known that her eldest brother was much better at talking some sense to Tobias than her.</p><p>"You know, people usually stay away from the beach at this time of night. There might be some kind of creep or creatures lurking around," a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts causing the girl to turn her head towards where the voice came from.</p><p>"When you meant some kind of creep, were you describing yourself, Lahote?" she joked, a small smile forming on her lips but then her eyes suddenly widened upon seeing him half-naked and only wearing a pair of cargo shorts. She cleared her throat then looked away, thankful to the dark surroundings for hiding the tinge of pink on her cheeks.</p><p>Paul chuckled, walking towards where she sat. "You wound me, Reed. Why are you even out here anyway?"</p><p>"Stargazing," she simply replied, telling him a little white lie because she didn't want to worry him, which was weird. She pulled her blanket a little closer for some warmth. "I could ask you the same question; shouldn't you be at home? Don't tell me you were stargazing too," Astoria laughed.</p><p>"Uhh....yeah, I was stargazing too."</p><p>"Right," Astoria snorted, not believing him. "Who even stargazes looking like that?" she looked up at him, squinting her eyes at his response.</p><p>"Apparently, I do," he answered jokingly.</p><p>"Here, wrap this around you. It's starting to get chilly lately," Astoria instructed, handing him a spare blanket. Paul was about to decline since he doesn't need it because he was already plenty warm — one of the many perks of being a Quileute shape-shifter — but quickly backed off when he saw the worried yet soft look in his imprint's eyes.</p><p><b><em>Fuck, those eyes are going to be the death of me</em></b>, he thought, his heart began pounding so fast when she moved closer to wrap the blanket around him.</p><p>"Thanks," he muttered, flashing a soft smile at her — which was pretty seemed out of character for him.</p><p>The pair sat in comfortable silence for a while, admiring the stars and listening to the waves until Astoria spoke.</p><p>"Do you ever feel like a failure sometimes?" she asked, biting her lower lip.</p><p>"Yeah, but 'sometimes' seems a more like an understatement," Paul replied, there was bitterness in his laugh. It was true, most of the time he always felt like he could have done a lot more to prevent all the changes that happened to him in the past. But all those failures and mistakes made him want to become better, especially with Astoria now as the center of his everything.</p><p>"Me too, these days I feel like I'm going in circles with my little brother," she trailed off, pursing her lips. "My dumb and dumber twin brothers aren't being helpful either. With Ezra and Dad not being around as much, I have no idea what I'm going to do anymore," Astoria groaned, burying her face in her arms.</p><p>"Don't be so hard on yourself, he'll eventually come around," Paul convinced her, placing a warm hand on her shoulder.</p><p>She wiped the brimming beads of tears forming in her eyes away, "I just want him to be okay, mom will surely be disappointed if she knew I wasn't taking care of him well."</p><p>"I'm pretty sure your mom knows you're already doing so much for him," he stated, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.</p><p>Shivers ran down her spine when Astoria felt his touch, her already pink cheeks got redder. "Thanks," she murmured, thanking him for bringing her mood up. She realized that being around Paul somehow makes her feel better; there was something that she couldn't pinpoint as to why she was drawn to him in some kind of way.</p><p>"Anytime," he nodded, leaning away from her.</p><p>The pair talked a lot within the next half hour, and in between those talks Astoria found out that he didn't exactly have the best situation at home which made her want to give him a comforting hug and reassure him that things will soon be better for him. But she felt that it would probably be too forward or even make things awkward for the two of them, in the end, Astoria just gave him a gentle squeeze in the arm instead.</p><p>"It's getting late, I should head back inside," she announced halfheartedly, not wanting their late-night talk to end but she had to as it was a school night.</p><p>Paul nodded, flashing her a tight smile. He did not want to let her go either but he knew that he has to since it was almost midnight. "Here, thanks for this," he said while he was about to take the blanket off of him but Astoria stopped him midway.</p><p>"No, it's okay you can keep it," she insisted, fixing the blanket around him to keep him a bit warm. "See you at school," Astoria bid him goodbye with a sweet smile before heading inside the house.</p><p>When Paul was sure that she had already gone back inside and turned in for the night, he made his way towards the woods and phased after tying the blanket around his ankle along with his other clothing so that it wouldn't be ruined. He quickly ran to the deepest parts, checking for any threats around the border.</p><p><b><em>Somebody seems very happy</em></b>, Jared jeered as he appeared beside Paul, already knowing what was going on in his mind.</p><p><b><em>He had a great time</em></b>, <b><em>that's for sure</em></b>, Quil snickered, joining in on teasing the older boy.</p><p><b><em>Oh, I know, I saw it too</em></b>, Jared cackled, shoving Quil playfully, trying to rile up Paul a bit more.</p><p><b><em>That blanket on your ankle looks nice too, </em></b>Quil added, circling Paul.</p><p>Paul growled at the two wolves across from him, <b><em>Will you morons just shut the hell up?</em></b></p><p>Hearing each other's thoughts was the one thing Paul found the most annoying about being in a pack and this was one of the times that he wished he could just block everyone from seeing and hearing everything that night because he only wanted to keep that moment for himself. But knowing two other wolves, they would never let him live it down and continued teasing him for the rest of their patrol together.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Back at the Reed household, Astoria was smiling to herself while making rounds inside the house checking if everything was locked. She was still reeling from the talk she had with Paul; thinking that he had surprised her in so many ways. Back at school and whenever he was with Jared Cameron and their little group, he could be a little cocky and sometimes brooding but somehow whenever they see each other, he was calm and sweet.</p><p>She was about to head back to her room but stopped in her tracks when she saw Tobias coming back inside through the front door.</p><p>"Where have you been? I hope you didn't forget that it's a school night," she warned him, narrowing her eyes at Tobias who just stood silently across from her and was avoiding her gaze.</p><p>"Just leave me alone, Tori," her younger brother grumbled, walking past her but was stopped when Astoria grabbed him by the arm.</p><p>"I won't ever leave you alone when you're being like this," she sighed. "And I, for sure, know that mom hates seeing you acting this way."</p><p>Tobias froze upon the mention of their mother, a sad sigh escaped out of his lips and shook his head. Not wanting to upset her even more, he gently removed his sister's hand on his arm, "Good night, Tori," he muttered before heading to his room.</p><p>Astoria stood alone in the foyer for a moment, trying to compose herself when the sound of her phone breaking from her trance. "What in the world?" she mumbled, taking the device out from her jacket's pocket. Her eyes immediately brightened upon seeing the name of the person who had sent her a text message.</p><p>
  <b>From: Evan S.</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Message:</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Guess which favorite person of yours is back?</b>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>The smile on her face grew wider from the moment she opened the latest text message from her childhood friend slash former neighbor slash partner-in-crime, Evan Sato. Ever since he had told her that he was back from Japan for his university break and would be visiting her before heading to Seattle to stay with his <em>*obaasan</em>, she was more than excited; the two have not seen each other since he left to go to Japan for college a year ago.</p><p>
  <b>From: Evan S.</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Message: I bought you a pack of <a href="laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/box.jpg">toilet candies</a> and <a href="www.candystore.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/JapaneseCandy9_GiantEelPretz.jpg">eel pretzels</a>, thought you might enjoy them.</b>
</p><p>Astoria couldn't help but roll her eyes at the silliness of her friend after reading his message. <b><em>What a weirdo</em></b>, she thought while composing a reply.</p><p>
  <b>To: Evan S.</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Message: Ugh gross, I almost forgot how much you suck.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>From: Evan S.</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Message: You still love me anyway.</b>
</p><p>"What are you so happy about? Is it because of a boy?" <a href="i.pinimg.com/originals/b4/35/2d/b4352dbd444e38a8da12bc2fad405165.gif">Daphne</a> teased after seeing the huge smile on her face, Astoria met her from her creative writing club and immediately bonded.</p><p>She let out a short laugh, shaking her head as she shoved her phone back inside her jacket's pocket. "No, it's this childhood friend of mine. He's back from his university break and is coming to visit."</p><p>"Liar," her friend snorted. "I can tell by the way that friend of yours is making an effort to travel thousands of miles away just to see you isn't just an ordinary childhood friend," she implied.</p><p>"Oh, shut up," Astoria waved her hand, dismissing what Daphne just told her.</p><p>What her friend said was not that far off from what she and Evan were, she considered him as her first crush, or a childhood sweetheart if you will, but as they grew up those feelings gradually disappeared and he was nothing more than an older brother to her.</p><p>"What does he look like anyway? He can't be that bad for you to not have feelings for him," Daphne asked curiously, wiggling her brows at the girl.</p><p>"Nope, I'm not showing you," she shook her head, refusing to show what Evan looked like. Daphne would surely be all over him if she saw how good-looking her childhood friend was. "You're boy crazy," Astoria remarked, leaving her friend standing alone and was about to walk away when she caught Paul staring at her with a longing look in his eyes. She blinked then flashed him a soft smile before strolling off to the cafeteria.</p><p>Jared watched the two with an amused look on his face and already had this huge shit-eating grin Paul hated the most. "That was cute, but you could've at least waved instead of just looking at her like a lovesick puppy," he joked.</p><p>Paul shot a deathly glare towards his friend to shut him up. "Fuck off," he growled and then flipping him off.</p><p>He was already trying to think of ways on how to approach his imprint and it didn't help to hear the things the girls were talking about. A childhood friend who was — just his luck — a boy. His sight followed Astoria who stopped in her tracks after spotting her youngest sibling seated at the steps and joined him.</p><p>"Go away, Tori," she heard Tobias say in an annoyed tone, which made him slightly agitated then walked away before he could do something he might regret later on.</p><p>"Don't you have class?" Tobias asked his sister who was digging through her bag then pulling out a small plastic container which revealed a huge slice of chocolate cake inside it.</p><p>The older girl shook her head. "Nope," she replied, taking out the wooden forks she had in her messenger bag. "I have a free period before the club meeting, plus a chocolate cake. So, I figured I should find you and grace you with my presence," Astoria joked, trying to get a smile out of Tobias but got a small twitch at the corner of his lips instead. "Here, let's share," she handed him the extra wooden fork.</p><p>They both ate in silence for almost an hour and were able to finish the cake just before the bell for the last period rang. Tobias got up, taking the container and utensils from his sister. "I'll take this home. See you later," he muttered, leaving his sister at the steps with a pleased look on her face.</p><p><b><em>I think we're making progress</em></b>, she thought to herself.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>That night, Astoria was situated at the railings of the back terrace of their home, already lost in her own world as she continued to write her thoughts in her journal. She wrote about how good it felt to see her little brother smile even though it was for a short while, for Astoria it was small progress and she's planning to work harder to help him out, then thought about Evan's visit instead and made a mental note to tell everyone except for the twins; she was worried that Gideon and Asher would make a huge fuss and do something idiotic.</p><p>Her mind then drifted towards a certain hothead. She chewed on the top of her pen while remembering the way he was looking at her just this morning – he had this longing look in his eyes or maybe she was just imagining it. Astoria felt her cheeks warm up a little then slapped herself gently, trying to forget about it. But the person she was trying to forget just now was walking near the waves. The girl had to blink a couple of times then rubbed her eyes to check if she wasn't hallucinating.</p><p>"Paul? What are you doing here?" Astoria called out, noticing that he was half-naked yet again. <b><em>He sure does hate wearing shirts at night</em></b>, she thought.</p><p>"Stargazing," he joked, laughing afterward. "Also, I went for a run."</p><p>"Isn't it a little bit cold tonight? You could get sick!" she scolded him, hopping off the railings then quickly grabbing the blanket from the couch and made her down to where he was. Just like the previous night, Paul watched her wrap the blanket on him quietly, amused at the way that she was fussing around him. He had to admit, Paul liked the attention that he was receiving from his imprint but was broken out of his reverie when she took his hand and lead him up to the terrace.</p><p>"Wait here while I make you something warm to drink," Astoria ordered, motioning towards the loveseat at the far end of the terrace. "Make yourself at home," she said before disappearing inside to get a warm drink.</p><p>A minute passed by when she returned with two cups of hot chocolate in her hands. "Thanks, you didn't have to trouble yourself with all of this," he stated, taking a sip from his steaming cup.</p><p>"I know, but I wanted to," she reassured him, smiling softly. "I didn't see you for the rest of the day, did something happen?"</p><p>"I had to help Jacob with the truck that he was fixing," Paul lied even though he hated doing it to her but he was still waiting for the right moment to tell her about the legends as well as him imprinting on her.</p><p>Astoria eyed him for a moment, trying to figure out what was going through his mind. She was worried about him; Paul had been skipping school a lot lately. Daphne had told her it wasn't a new occurrence and that has been going on since last year after he started hanging around Sam Uley.</p><p>"I think I'm making progress with Tobias, but I'm not getting my hopes up," she suddenly revealed to him.</p><p>"It's still progress though," Paul assured, shifting a bit so he could face her.</p><p>"You know, it only took a slice of chocolate cake to get him to smile," she beamed, smiling widely. "Although he just lifted a corner of his lips," she added.</p><p>"Is lifting the corner of your lips considered smiling?" he teased.</p><p>Astoria huffed as she crossed her arms and shot him a fake annoyed look, "It is, in my book."</p><p>Paul laughed loudly, "I'm just messing with you."</p><p>The pair continued to talk for the next hour, sharing weird stories, not noticing a tall figure entering the kitchen. Asher quietly tiptoed towards the windows where he saw his younger sister and Paul Lahote at the back terrace, somewhat acting all cozy.</p><p>A huge grin appeared on his face, "Oh, the others are going to freak when I tell them about this," he muttered to himself, rubbing his hands together.</p><p>Asher headed back upstairs to tell the others what he has just seen, which resulted in him getting hit with a Funko pop figure by a very sleep deprived Gideon who had just finished his "25-step skincare routine" — which still confuses and amazes the hell out of Asher on how his twin brother does it every morning and every night so religiously without skipping one single step — and being door-slammed on the face by Tobias. But it didn't faze him, so he bombarded their phones with tons of messages about what he just saw and made a mental note to tease Astoria tomorrow.</p><p>
  <b>[A/N: Obaasan means Grandmother in Japanese.]</b>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>[A/N: Obaasan means Grandmother in Japanese.]</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Five</h2></a>
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</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="https://data.whicdn.com/images/313094978/original.gif">Asher</a> couldn't take his eyes off of the huge doors across from him while he and his brothers wait for <a href="https://file3.instiz.net/data/file3/2018/10/04/b/c/0/bc085e90e864aac15d0e8d569fac8834.gif">Astoria</a> to be done with her creative writing club before heading home together. He had told the others about what he had seen by the kitchen window last night and some of their response wasn't warm, to say the least, but it didn't faze him, so being the resident annoying brother that he is, Asher had to tell them again this morning by flooding their phones with messages and getting slightly warm responses — which included <a href="https://thumbs.gfycat.com/PalatableShyAmbushbug-size_restricted.gif">Ezra</a>'s three middle finger emojis.</p><p>"That annoying grin on your face means that you're up to something," <a href="https://66.media.tumblr.com/410ef744fc1fa4b6cc3f8ad5b90d57b1/tumblr_p6x2mm55xp1qbst9go1_250.gif">Tobias</a> commented, noticing the idiotic grin that his older brother had on. "And it's going to be stupid," he added.</p><p>"What grin? I'm not grinning, this is my serious face," Asher feigned innocence, biting back the said grin and pretended to look serious which made the younger boy roll his eyes.</p><p><a href="https://media0.giphy.com/media/uIczsjwiqe760/giphy.gif">Gideon</a> snorted, smacking his twin brother at the back of his head, "You don't even know how to be serious, dumbass."</p><p>"Hey! I resent that!"</p><p>Tobias watched the twins argue back and forth."What did I ever deserve to be in the middle of this shit?" he asked himself, heaving out a sigh.</p><p>"What in the world is going on?" Astoria, who was done with her creative writing club, appeared beside him, eyeing the twins who haven't noticed that she was already there.</p><p>"Same old idiotic twin things," he muttered. "I still have no clue how Gideon does that 25-step Korean skincare routine or whatever that is every day."</p><p>"He made me try it once, I gave up on the fifth step and he was mad as hell," she reminisced, laughing at the memory. "Are we going to stop them?"</p><p>Tobias nodded. "We might end up moving again if we don't," he replied, clearing his throat loudly to get the twins' attention which made them stop and turn to him.</p><p>The irritating grin that Asher had, appeared once again when he saw her. "Astoria! You're here!" he cheered, moving to stand next to her. "Had fun last night?"</p><p>Astoria narrowed her eyes at him, "What are you talking about?" She asked</p><p>"Oh, you know what I'm talking about," her brother smirked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.</p><p>"This idiot said he saw you last night with Paul Lahote at the back terrace looking cozy," Gideon revealed, motioning towards Asher who was having too much fun. "He pestered us the whole night about it too."</p><p>"I never thought you'll go for a hothead, Tori," Tobias chuckled, sporting the same annoying grin that Asher had. "But, whatever makes you happy."</p><p>Astoria didn't know whether to be happy or annoyed that Tobias was slowly breaking down his walls as he joined in with the twins' antics. She shot each of her brothers a threatening glare, "If Ezra was here, you three would all be dead."</p><p>"Yeah, about that, baby sis, he said that all four of us will be taking turns in punching Paul Lahote in the face if he makes you cry," Asher snickered, causing Astoria to punch him in the arm.</p><p>"Oh, will you guys just stop it!" she hissed, her brothers laughing in the background. "He's a friend, and news flash – friends talk to each other."</p><p>"Late at night?" Gideon teased.</p><p>"With steaming hot chocolate?" Tobias chimed in.</p><p>"He had this lovey-dovey look in his eyes too," Asher snickered.</p><p>The girl could only groan and covered her blushing cheeks while her brothers continued to tease her. She loved them dearly but they can be pretty relentless when it comes to teasing her about the boys she gets involved with, and right now she wanted to strangle them and run off with her scooter.</p><p>"Hey, are you pissed?" Asher asked, poking her cheek repeatedly; a habit he always does whenever he makes her mad.</p><p>Then as if on cue, a vintage but high-end looking car suddenly parked across from theirs, blocking the way. Most of the people at the school parking lot went quiet as if waiting for the owner of the car to emerge out of it.</p><p>Gideon blinked then turned to Tobias, "Is it me, or did everything feel like it's in slow motion?" he asked, but the younger boy only snorted.</p><p>A tall black-haired young man came out of the car and all four siblings' eyes widened as soon as they realized who it was. "<a href="https://thumbs.gfycat.com/LimpingShadyEuropeanfiresalamander-small.gif">Evan</a>?!" the twins chorused.</p><p>The person in question flashed the twins a cheeky smile. "Missed me?" he greeted them, spreading his arms wide.</p><p>Astoria watched the twins ran towards Evan and had him in a headlock in no time. The slight changes in her childhood friend didn't go unnoticed: his hair was a bit longer and his style of clothing had changed too. Gone was the always preppy-dressed boy she once knew, and now in front of her was a more relaxed version of that boy.</p><p>Their eyes finally met after finally being freed by the twins. "Looks like you had an extreme makeover, Tokyo Edition," she chuckled, motioning her hand in a circular motion. "I must say, going there did you a lot of good," she giggled</p><p>Evan gasped, feigning a hurt look towards her. "I just came back from Tokyo yet I didn't even get an 'OMG, Evan! You're back!' and a tackle hug? Where had my Astoria disappeared to?" He frowned, placing a hand near his heart.</p><p>Astoria was trying to bite back a smile but failed; she immediately ran towards Evan and greeted him with a tackle hug then was spun around. The two only stopped when they heard someone clear their throat.</p><p>"Sorry to interrupt your sickeningly sweet reunion, but we have to go home. I still have to do my 25-step skincare routine," Gideon announced, tapping his watch. "Time is gold, people!"</p><p>"25 steps? Is he serious?" Evan asked her, slightly bewildered.</p><p>Astoria nodded. "He does it every morning and every night," she confirmed</p><p>"That's dedication, right there," Asher patted his twin brother's back with Gideon beaming proudly.</p><p>Evan turned to Astoria, taking her hand into his then drew circles around it. "Do you wanna go to Port Angeles and grab something to eat?" he asked hopefully.</p><p>Asher butted in before she could even give her childhood best friend an answer, "Or you can just come with us at our house and have a delicious *<em>budae jiggae</em> cooked by me instead, and then you two BFFs can catch up after while heaving tea or whatever. Win-win?" he grinned cheekily.</p><p>Something about Asher's suggestion made her feel relieved, it wasn't that she didn't want to be alone with Evan, there was some kind of weird feeling in her stomach telling her it wasn't the best thing to do or someone will get hurt.</p><p>"Yeah, that sounds nice too," her childhood friend thankfully agreed, "Might be a great idea to say 'hello' to Uncle Elijah as well."</p><p>Tobias shook his head. "He'll probably be home late today," he replied.</p><p>"I almost forgot! I got you all treats from Japan," he pointed towards his car, "The weird kinds."</p><p>"Oh, no. Those better not be the toilet candies and eel pretzels you were telling me about," Astoria pleaded. "Just give those to Asher or send some to Ezra, he likes weird stuff too." Asher perked up upon hearing what his younger sister said.</p><p>"Toilet candies? I've heard about those!" He cheered. "I'll take them if she doesn't want to."</p><p>Evan went to the car to grab the said treats and tossed them towards Asher who happily opened them.</p><p>When he was back on her side, he leaned down a bit to whisper in her ear. "Hey, can you join me in the car? I'm not sure if I got the directions to your new house right," he requested.</p><p>"I have my scooter though, you can just follow me on the way," she told him, turning away then pointed at her mint-colored Vespa.</p><p>Tobias then stepped in. "I'll take your scooter, so you two can catch up," he volunteered.</p><p>Astoria was a bit shocked when Tobias volunteered to take her scooter, but the gesture warmed her heart. "Here, take care of my baby or else," she playfully threatened him, giving Tobias the key to her scooter then got inside Evan's car.</p><p>Tobias watched everyone speed away, leaving him alone at the school parking lot with his sister's scooter. He was about to get on but stopped when he noticed Paul Lahote watching Evan's car slowly disappear from everyone's sight, looking like somebody had stabbed a knife in his heart. The two boys' gazes met, Tobias gave him a curt nod as if saying 'goodbye' before turning on the scooter and heading home.</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Budae Jjigae - is a fusion dish that has American processed meats (such as Spam, ham, bacon, and hotdogs).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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</p><p>Evan watched the girl across him walk in and out from the kitchen to the back terrace as she prepared their tea after the very sumptuous dinner, which he made a mental note to thank Asher later before leaving for Seattle to visit his grandmother. He was glad to be back, and seeing Astoria after a year of being away made the long trip to La Push worth it. He had noticed the odd glow on her face. Maybe she was dating someone? Not that he minded, Evan would be delighted for her if there was someone already making her happy.</p><p>"What?" Astoria asked, raising a brow at him then handed him his cup of matcha tea.</p><p>"What?" he asked back, sipping his tea.</p><p>The younger girl knitted her brows together. "I could have sworn you were staring at me," she insisted</p><p>"I wasn't staring, I was observing."</p><p>"Right, observing." Astoria snorted, "So, how was life back in Tokyo?"</p><p>"Oh, you know, there are good times and bad times. But it's been great so far, and lots of good food too," he replied. "You should visit sometime, I'll tour you around and might even introduce to a few good looking guys from some of my university classes." Evan teased, playfully wiggling his brows.</p><p>"No thanks," She declined, "I can't leave the three idiots with the house to fend for themselves without me, dad &amp; Ezra around, or else I won't have a house to come home to."</p><p>Evan knew she had a point, without her or Ezra to help their dad with managing the house, everything would be an absolute mess. And being the good friend that he was, Evan only wanted to give her a break, he thought that Astoria might need it right after their mother's passing.</p><p>"Hey, <em>*obaasan</em>'s been asking about you when I was talking to her over the phone," Evan brought up. His grandmother had always liked his childhood friend ever since they were kids, and the old woman had also been pestering him to ask the girl to be his girlfriend so she could finally be part of their family, but Evan had always insisted that they were nothing more than friends.</p><p>Astoria perked up at the mention of his grandmother. "How is she? I haven't had the chance to visit her in Seattle. Tell her that I send my love. Is she still planning our future wedding?" she joked.</p><p>"Oh you bet, she's still hoping that we miraculously end up together one day," he chuckled. "Then I told her that it would be weird and that it was like being with your sister if I dated you, and guess what she did?"</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"She threw one of her very fancy <em>*yunomi </em>teacupsat me."</p><p>"You really shouldn't mess with her, she's one feisty old woman," his friend teased, laughing as she punched him in the arm.</p><p>"Her birthday party is coming up, by the way," he reminded her. "And I might know a guy who doesn't have a date for the party yet," Evan grinned, winking at her.</p><p>"You're talking about yourself, right?"</p><p>Evan pretended to be shocked, placing a hand over his heart. "How did you know? Are you a psychic?" he gasped.</p><p>"I might have been blessed with mind-reading powers, who knows?" Astoria shrugged.</p><p>"So, will you go with me?"</p><p>"And be uncomfortable in heels for four hours? No thank you, I value my feet."</p><p>"I'll buy you a month's worth of spicy cheese ramen noodles and banana milk if you agree to go with me," Evan negotiated. He knew how much she loved those things and he was smart enough to use those for her to say 'yes'.</p><p>Astoria was in deep thought, if she did agree to go with Evan to the birthday party she would be obligated to dress up, and even though she loved the old woman, his grandmother would never leave her alone without mentioning what their future wedding's theme would be like and she wouldn't be surprised if the old woman already had a list of names had already been thought of for her future grandkids. But with the mention of her two favorite things, Astoria's resolve was slowly wavering.</p><p>"Make it a year, throw in a box of  Pocky and you have yourself a date to your grandmother's party," she bargained.</p><p>"Anything else?"</p><p>"Your stash of <em>*konpeito</em> candies too."</p><p>"Hey! Not those!"</p><p>Astoria raised a brow at him, nodding upwards, "No <em>konpeito</em> candies, no date to the party."</p><p>"Fine, deal," Evan grumbled, crossing his arms. He then glanced down at his watch. "Looks like it's time for me to leave," he announced, rising from the loveseat.</p><p>She flashed him a small smile, a bit sad that he was already leaving. "Go, you wouldn't want your grandmother to throw another fancy teacup at you if she caught you coming home late."</p><p>"Not if I tell her that I went to visit you," he grinned, making the girl hit him with a throw pillow. "Ow! Stop being violent!"</p><p>Astoria laughed as she got off the couch. "Sorry, can't help it," she apologized, stepping closer to give him a tight hug, "It is great to see you, Evan, thanks for coming over."</p><p>Evan ruffled the girl's hair playfully which earned him a scowl. "Anytime, pumpkin," He smiled, "I'll see you on Saturday!"</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Paul hated the hollow feeling in his chest that has been growing since he left the school parking lot. He knew he could never control his imprint's choices, and seeing her smile so sweetly at someone that wasn't him felt like a thousand knives were stabbing his heart. And truth to be told, he was already getting impatient. All he wanted to do was to tell her everything but Sam ordered him to wait for the right time as Astoria was an outsider and has no clue that shapeshifters like him exist.</p><p>"Who do you think was that guy at the parking lot?" Quil asked curiously, munching on his third humongous cupcake.</p><p>Jacob shrugged, "Beats me."</p><p>"Probably a friend of the Reeds, they all seemed close," Embry responded, leaning back against his chair then turned to Paul who was sitting quietly the whole time. "When are you going to tell Astoria about you imprinting on her anyway?" he asked.</p><p>"Yeah, the bonfire is almost near," Quil reminded him.</p><p>"Hey man, if you keep waiting like what Sam orders you to do, somebody might steal her away from you," Jared jested, cackling loudly but was cut off when Paul chucked a cupcake towards him but Jared was able to catch it and mockingly take a bite. "Don't go crying to us when that happens."</p><p>"Shut the hell up or I swear I will rip your wolf ass into shreds," Paul threatened, gritting his teeth.</p><p>"Hey! No fighting at the table!" Emily ordered then threw a reprimanding look at Jared then Paul who got up from his seat and left to go on his patrol.</p><p>Hours later, he found himself hiding behind the trees near the Reed household. Paul's eyes surveyed the surroundings for any strange movements then his gaze landed on the two figures at the back terrace, he watched as his imprint and the strange guy from the parking lot earlier laugh together then hugged each other — which caused the hollow feeling on his chest to grow even more.</p><p>Maybe Jared was right, he should have just told her the truth instead of waiting for the right time like what Sam ordered him to do. He took one look at his imprint then howled as loud as he could.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>After Evan left, Astoria had stayed behind at the back terrace of their home, as if waiting for a certain someone to appear. Her late-night talks with Paul had become one of the things she looks forward to the most every day. She was about to fall asleep on the loveseat but was suddenly woken up after hearing what seemed to be a wolf's howl which came from the forest near their home.</p><p>Being the curious person that she was, the girl carefully walked to where she suspected the howl came from but suddenly halted.</p><p>"What the—" Astoria muttered then blinked and rubbed her eyes repeatedly.</p><p>She heard a rustle of twigs and leaves then looked to where she could have sworn that a pair of glowing eyes were looking back at her but instead, saw nothing then darkness.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>[A/N:  Obaasan - Grandmother,  Konpeito - Japanese sugar candies &amp;  Yunomi - Japanese teacup]</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Seven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>[A/N: Hey everyone, I just want to apologize for the late update. Kinda got sick last week then had an allergy attack after. Anyways, I hope you're all doing alright and staying safe! xo]</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>Astoria hasn’t been able to stop thinking about the pair of glowing eyes she thought that she had seen the other night, the girl kept reassuring herself that what she saw was real and not just her imagination. Even though she only saw them for a brief moment, she felt some sort of familiarity — which she kept telling herself was impossible.</p><p>“Hey, are you okay?” Daphne asked worriedly, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I noticed that you kept on spacing out a lot today.”</p><p>She flashed a reassuring smile at Daphne. “Sorry, I was trying to remember if I forgot to do something before leaving the house this morning,” Astoria lied.</p><p>Her friend sighed, reluctantly believing her answer, “Well, if you say so,” Daphne muttered. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”</p><p>Astoria nodded, waving at Daphne then her eyes wandered around the crowded school hallway as if looking for someone. She felt her heart drop when the one person that she was looking for was not in sight.</p><p>“Looking for someone?” somebody asked out of nowhere.</p><p>The voice almost made her jump then turned swiftly to see who it was, “Jared?”</p><p>“The one and only.”</p><p><strong><em>If Jared was here, shouldn’t Paul be at school too?</em></strong> She thought, not noticing the sneaky grin on Jared’s face.</p><p>“If you’re looking for Paul, he took an off from school,” Jared told her as if he had read her mind.</p><p>Astoria narrowed her eyes at him. “Why? Did something happen?” she asked, eagerly awaiting an answer.</p><p>“Some sort of family emergency, he didn’t say much when I saw him this morning on the way to school,” he lied, trying his best to sound believable. Jared knew the real reason why Paul had skipped school, his patrol with Quil ended pretty late last night because of the looming threat of a certain redheaded leech.</p><p>She pursed her lips, “Is he alright though?”</p><p>“Paul is a tough guy, he’ll be alright. Plus, I know he’s going to be over the moon when I tell him that you’re worried about him,” Jared teased, winking at her.</p><p>Astoria felt her cheeks heat up a bit, playfully hitting the boy in the arm with a book that she was holding. “Oh, shut up,” she grumbled, leaving Jared laughing to himself near the lockers.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>That night, she found herself waiting out in the back terrace again. Astoria knew he might not show up, but she opted to wait for him anyway just in case. A soft sigh escaped from her lips as she plopped down on the loveseat, her eyes never breaking away from the sea.</p><p>“Waiting for a certain someone? Or should I say, a young man named Paul Lahote?” Ezra teased, interrupting her alone time.</p><p>“You’re home early, how’s university life so far?”</p><p>Her older brother chuckled as she tried to change the subject, “Nice try, squirt, but that’s not going to stop me from asking about Paul again,” he stated, sitting down beside her. “Spill it, sis.”</p><p>Astoria rolled her eyes at him. “Fine,” she grumbled.</p><p>“So? What’s with you and Paul? Are you dating? Do you like him? Should I start going to taekwondo classes again to get my black belt so I can beat him if he hurts you or make you cry?” he continuously asked her questions, causing the younger girl to gape at him.</p><p>“Ezra?”</p><p>“Yep?”</p><p>“Please, chill.”</p><p>He grinned sheepishly, “Right, sorry.”</p><p>“To answer your questions, I guess he and I are friends. Also, he seems nice even though Paul has a temper that causes him to get in trouble most of the time but I still think that he’s a good person, maybe just a tad bit misunderstood,” Astoria admitted, smiling softly.</p><p>Ezra observed his sister with an amused look on his face as she talked about Paul Lahote, there was this odd glow around her that Evan had mentioned to him when they talked.</p><p>“So, do you like him?” he asked her again.</p><p>Astoria shrugged, “I don’t know, but I always feel this weird pull whenever he’s around. Does that mean anything?”</p><p>He shrugged, “Maybe? I don’t know, I’m not the best person to ask when it comes to loving or liking someone, you should try getting a bit of love advice from Asher,” Ezra chuckled. “But, if there comes a time when you’re sure what you feel, just be careful,” he reminded, poking her cheek playfully.</p><p>She nodded, resting her head on her brother’s shoulder, “Thanks Ezra, I’ll keep that in mind.”</p><p>“Oh right! I almost forgot Gideon is looking for you,” he blurted out, poking his sister’s side. “I think it has something to do with that absurd skincare routine of his.”</p><p>“Oh no, he’s going to make me go through hell again,” Astoria complained, not wanting to go through her other brother’s ridiculous skincare routine again.</p><p>“Just go, it might not be that bad this time,” Ezra chuckled.</p><p>“It’s a twenty-five step routine,” she groaned, using the puppy eyes technique on Ezra to persuade him from escaping Gideon’s wrath.</p><p>Her brother ruffled her hair, seemingly not getting fazed by his younger sister’s usual persuasion technique, “Good luck coming out of the bathroom alive then.”</p><p>“*<em>Oppa</em>!”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It was a miracle that the dark bags under her eyes were pretty much nonexistent as she took a quick look at herself in the mirror. Astoria went through hell last night because of Gideon’s unnecessarily long skincare routine. Her brother was insistent on making her go through all of the steps for better results and to look good for the party — or so he says.</p><p>A faint smile appeared on her face as Astoria took another look at her outfit for the party; she was wearing a cream &amp; navy blue colored <a href="https://i.ibb.co/qY2WT1B/128707215-728143201443865-3744433748953227349-n.jpg">dress</a> embroidered with orchid flowers and a pair of beige chunky <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0267/7522/4354/products/product-image-890251287.jpg?v=1572128878">heels</a> to match the dress. She may not be a huge fan of wearing dresses or just dressing up in general, but after seeing the dress that Daphne had helped her picked out the other day at a shop in Port Angeles, she knew that she had to buy it.</p><p>“Hey, Evan just got here. He’s at the back terrace with Ezra,” Tobias announced, leaning against the door. “You don’t look so bad whenever Gideon doesn’t interfere with your clothing choices,” he complimented.</p><p>Astoria quickly turned to look at her younger brother. “Is that your way of saying that I look good?” she grinned, walking towards Tobias to mess with his hair.</p><p>“If it’s going to help you sleep at night,” he teased, slowly backing away from her but stopped. “Also, make sure to be careful on your way back after the party,” he added.</p><p>She narrowed her eyes towards where Tobias stood but shrugged it off as nothing then ran downstairs to greet Evan.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Paul was done waiting, he had finally decided that he was going to tell Astoria everything — about the legends and imprinting — with or without Sam’s approval. Just thinking about what her reaction would be is already starting to make him anxious and that kind of feeling was slightly foreign to him but whatever the outcome is, he was ready to accept it — even if it would cause him a kind of pain that he would never heal from.</p><p><strong><em>I’m going to tell her tomorrow</em></strong>, Paul told Sam through their link while they were running along towards the direction of the Reed household with Jared. <strong><em>She already saw me in my wolf form</em></strong>, he added.</p><p><strong><em>What? No way! What happened? Did she scream? Run?</em></strong> Jared teased, earning a growl from Paul</p><p><strong><em>I told you to wait a bit more Paul</em></strong>, Sam responded.</p><p><strong><em>To hell with waiting, man. I say tell her, if she runs away after that then it’s her loss and not yours</em></strong>, Jared urged him, causing Sam to growl warningly at him, which the younger boy just ignored.</p><p>As soon as they got near the Reeds’ house, the three wolves quickly phased back into their human forms and clothed themselves with the extra ones that they had wrapped around their legs.</p><p>Everything seems to have stopped again around him as his gaze immediately landed on the girl he had been wanting to see again after a rough week, Astoria’s eyes met his then gave him the sweetest smile and a tiny wave. Paul was pretty sure that he had heard Jared snort then took a mental note of beating his ass up later when they were alone in the wolf forms without Sam.</p><p>“Hey, guys, everything alright?” Astoria asked, walking towards them.</p><p>Paul nodded, “Yeah, are you heading out tonight?”</p><p>This time it was her turn to nod. “I’m going to a family friend’s birthday party in Seattle,” she replied.</p><p>“That explains why you look even more beautiful today, huh?” he complimented smoothly, making Astoria blush.</p><p>Jared watched the two with an amused look on his face. “Don’t mind us, you lovebirds just enjoy your moment together,” he joked.</p><p>Paul wanted to strangle his friend right then and there but managed to cool himself down as he didn’t want to scare Astoria away; he instead shot him one of the nastiest glares he could ever give which Jared just ignored.</p><p>Sam interjected before something bad or idiotic could even happen. “We just came by to warn you about a couple of stray deers lurking around at this time of the year.”</p><p>“Some of them tend to come out of nowhere, which tends to cause most of the car accidents in the area,” Paul explained.</p><p>Astoria nodded in response, “Thanks for the heads up, we’ll be careful.”</p><p>“We?”</p><p>Just then, a familiar figure came out of the house along with Astoria’s eldest brother.</p><p>“Ready, pumpkin?” the stranger asked while Paul was secretly shooting daggers at him, which made Jared elbow him in the arm.</p><p>“Oh! This is Evan,” Astoria introduced the stranger to the three boys across from them. “He’s a childhood friend from New York,” she added, patting Evan on the back.</p><p>“Pleasure to meet you, gentlemen, but if you'll excuse us, this weirdo and I have somewhere to be before my grandmother hires a search party for us,” Evan joked, leaving the others to open the passenger’s door of his car for Astoria.</p><p>“Make sure to have her back before midnight or else,” Ezra warned while Evan just saluted in response.</p><p>Astoria turned to Paul and the others. “I’ll see you guys around. Thanks again for the heads up,” she thanked them then bid everyone ‘goodbye’ before getting inside Evan’s car. She gazed at Paul longingly through the car’s side mirror while they were driving off.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>[A/N: Oppa - a term for older brother in Korean]</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Eight</h2></a>
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<p>Ignoring Sam's warning, Paul immediately strangled Jared as soon as they phased, he wanted to wipe the irritating look on his friend's face.</p>
<p><b><em>I didn't know you had a cheesy and romantic side in you</em></b>, Jared teased him while Sam was trying his best to break the two apart.</p>
<p>Paul growled at Jared, <b><em>Shut the fuck up Jared, or I won't hesitate to strangle you again.</em></b></p>
<p><b><em>You two! That's enough! </em></b>Sam warned.</p>
<p>The three boys parted ways when they got to Emily's place. Paul was hesitant to go home that night but he knew that he had to. As soon as he got home, he saw his father asleep on the couch seemingly tired, and looked like he just got home after a double shift from work. He could only sigh as he started to clean up the clutter around the house then placed a blanket over his sleeping father.</p>
<p>He went up to his room and plopped down on the bed; Paul stared up at the ceiling as he thought about the things he would be telling Astoria once he gets the chance to be with her alone. He could only hope that she would easily accept everything but knowing outsiders like her, things could go both ways.</p>
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<p>After what seemed to be a long drive to Seattle, Astoria and Evan finally arrived at his grandparents' home where the party was being held. The two were immediately cornered by Levi, Evan's younger brother, telling them that their grandmother was looking for them.</p>
<p>"Oh man, just as I was already looking forward to eating," she groaned, following her friend and the younger boy to the patio where the old woman sat along with a few other guests.</p>
<p>An old Japanese woman, named Sachiko, who looked like she was in her 70s greeted them with a warm smile. "I was beginning to think you two decided to ditch the party and went on a date instead," she joked.</p>
<p>"You'll probably hire a search party for us if we did that," Evan laughed, placing an arm around his grandmother's shoulders.</p>
<p>"He's got a point, <em>*baa-chan</em>," Levi commented.</p>
<p>Their grandmother shot a playful glare towards the brothers which made Astoria chuckle. "It's great to see you again, <em>baa-chan</em>," she greeted, holding the old woman's hand then kissing her on the cheek.</p>
<p>"I'm so happy that you're here, darling, but it would make me even happier if you and Evan finally tell me when you two are getting together," Sachiko stated.</p>
<p>Evan groaned, "<em>Baa-chan</em>, you know that dating her would feel like dating your sister."</p>
<p>"Evan, dear?"</p>
<p>"Yes, <em>baa-chan</em>?"</p>
<p>"Do you want me to waste one of the *yunomi cups on you again?" the old woman dared her eldest grandson who gulped and straightened up.</p>
<p>"No, ma'am," Evan answered, grinning sheepishly at his grandmother.</p>
<p>Their banter went on throughout the birthday party. While as much as she loved spending time with her childhood friend's grandmother, Astoria was beginning to regret coming to the party because the old woman would not leave her alone without asking if there was no chance of her and Evan ending up together — to which annoyed her to the slightest.</p>
<p>"Are you sure? My sweet Evan is such a catch, you're definitely missing out," Sachiko commented, motioning towards Evan who was busy munching on some of the leftover cake.</p>
<p>Astoria laughed upon seeing what her friend was doing, "No thank you, I'm sure someone else will find your grandson's weirdness a catch."</p>
<p>"I heard that!" Evan called out, still eating chewing on a mouthful of cake.</p>
<p>She stuck her tongue out at Evan then excused herself away from Sachiko and went to her friend's side. "Are you done pigging out? I want to go home already," Astoria whispered.</p>
<p>"Let me guess, <em>baa-chan</em> won't leave you alone until you finally caved in on marrying me?" Evan jested, earning a smack at the back of his head from the girl. "Ow! That hurts!"</p>
<p>"I bet you that she's going to show me her list of possible names for our future kids if we don't leave soon," she predicted with a challenging tone.</p>
<p>Evan knew what she said was true, his grandmother had already shown him the list the moment he got home from La Push after visiting Astoria a week ago.</p>
<p>"Chill, pumpkin, let me just finish this and we'll escape in a few," he told her, eating another bite from his cake. "You'll get to see your dearest Paul again soon," He added before Astoria smacked the back of his head again.</p>
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<p>Hours passed by, Paul finally felt energized after getting enough rest for his patrol that night. He stopped near the living room where he found his dad still passed out on the couch then left the house quietly.</p>
<p>Sam had ordered the pack to be more cautious and vigilant while on patrol as Victoria — the redheaded bloodsucker — was still out there and bidding her time to attack.</p>
<p><b><em>I heard the Cullens are waiting somewhere on the other side for the redhead</em></b>, Jared told him via wolf link as they ran together.</p>
<p><b><em>If they dared to cross the treaty line, I wouldn't hesitate to rip their fucking heads off</em></b>, Paul fumed, stopping near the river where the treaty line was while Jared went around to check the surroundings again.</p>
<p>He paced back and forth near the river, listening to the sound of the water rushing through while waiting for any possible danger that may happen. And just as he was about to look for Jared, one of the Cullens — Emmett— suddenly appeared out of nowhere, trying to cross the river as he attempts to run after Victoria who was swift enough to cross the treaty line undetected.</p>
<p>Paul growled at Emmett, daring the vampire to cross over so he could rip his head off, but Dr. Cullen quickly defused the commotion to avoid causing any more tension between their kinds.</p>
<p>After the Cullens left, Paul immediately howled for Jared to back him up in looking for the vampire who might still be around their part of the land.</p>
<p><b><em>No signs of the redhead?</em></b> he asked.</p>
<p><b><em>Looks like she got away pretty fast</em></b>, Jared replied dejectedly.</p>
<p>Just then, a sound of a loud crash was heard towards the main road; the two wolves quickly ran to where the crash came from and saw that a car had collided with one of the smaller trees. His heart instantly dropped upon seeing the familiar figure standing outside the car as if frantically calling someone on her phone.</p>
<p><b><em>Isn't that—</em></b> Jared began but wasn't able to continue what he was about to say when Paul quickly ran past him after phasing back to his human form to confirm his worst fear.</p>
<p>"Astoria!" he called out, the girl quickly whipped her head around and a look of relief was shown on her face. Paul quickly had his hands on her arms gently, "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"</p>
<p>Astoria was quiet for a moment before hugging him tightly then cried on his shoulder. Paul froze when he felt her arms around him and getting caught in the moment then gently rubbed her back to calm her down.</p>
<p>"It's okay, you're safe now," he whispered, reassuring his imprint that she would be alright now.</p>
<p>After her sobs had died down, she wiped away the tears from her eyes as she pulled away from him. "Sorry, I was just so scared. A deer just came out running out from nowhere then Evan tried to avoid it," she sniffed. "The car just spun around for a bit then crashed into, thankfully, one of the smaller trees."</p>
<p>Evan hopped off the car, still, a bit freaked out because of what just happened. "I thought we were done for," he muttered, leaning his back against the car.</p>
<p>Paul had taken a mental note of telling Sam what happened tonight. He had a strong feeling that maybe it was part of that Victoria's doing when the leech had crossed the treaty line while running away from the Cullens. He promised himself that he going to make the redhead pay for putting his imprint and her friend in danger.<br/><br/></p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Nine</h2></a>
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<p>After making sure that Astoria and her friend were to be taken care of by the right people, Paul and Jared immediately left them to report to Sam about what had happened that night.  Paul's patience was already running thin when it comes to the Cullens and tonight's incident was the cherry on top, he was determined to make the leeches pay for almost putting his imprint in danger.</p>
<p>"So the redhead crossed the border and Emmett tried to follow her?" Sam asked them.</p>
<p>"Yeah, but Paul quickly stopped him from crossing the treaty line," Jared replied.</p>
<p>"We could've caught the redhead if that fucking meathead didn't try to cross the border," Paul fumed, punching the nearest tree. "Astoria wouldn't have gotten into a minor accident."</p>
<p>Sam gave Jared a questioning look. "A deer got scared off when the redhead was inside the forest, causing it to run towards the main road," the younger boy tried to explain clearly.</p>
<p>"Are they alright?" followed Sam.</p>
<p>"Astoria and her friend seemed to be freaked out by the time we got to the scene of the accident but thankfully, there weren't any bleeding or anything major," Jared answered while Paul was standing quietly beside him, still fuming.</p>
<p>Sam quickly took notice of how Paul was acting, he turned to Jared with a look that told him to calm the other boy down. "Jared, take Paul home before he does something stupid because of his temper," he ordered. "I'll send Embry and Quil to watch over him later."</p>
<p>Jared nodded after hearing his alpha's orders. "Come on, man," he muttered, taking Paul by the arm.</p>
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<p>Days after the whole incident happened, Astoria had to take a few days off from school to rest. She was finally feeling a lot better compared to the previous days after the minor accident, some of the bruises on her arms were slowly disappearing. Evan had already gone back to Seattle after staying at the hospital for a day, their families were thankful that the two only escaped with nothing but bruises.</p>
<p>She stood at the beach just outside of their home, letting the wave crash into her feet.</p>
<p>"You'll catch a cold if you stay out here longer," someone suddenly spoke, breaking the girl out of her reverie.</p>
<p>A smile immediately appeared on her lips upon seeing who it was. "Hey, fancy seeing you again around here," she chuckled.</p>
<p>"Oh you know, just going for my nightly jog," Paul replied, walking towards her. "You good?"</p>
<p>Astoria nodded, knowing what he was asking about. "I'm good, some of the bruises are gone," she reassured, showing her arms.</p>
<p>Paul felt relieved after knowing that she was feeling a lot better. "Where is that weird friend of yours?" he asked, craning his head as if looking for Evan.</p>
<p>"Evan? Oh, he's back in Seattle already. I'll tell him that you asked for him," she grinned cheekily, nudging him in the arm but paused after seeing the sudden change of expression on his face. "Paul? Are you okay?"</p>
<p>He stood quietly beside her for what seemed like a couple of minutes, trying to formulate in his head how to tell Astoria the truth about his whole being. Paul heaved out a sigh before returning his gaze to the girl beside him, "I'm going to tell you something, and I would understand if you freak out or decide to be scared of me for the rest of your life."</p>
<p>Her brows furrowed. "What is it? You're kind of making me worry," she told him.</p>
<p>"You've probably always wondered why I skip school or why I'm rarely awake whenever I decide to show up. Well, the reason behind that is because of a tribe secret," he trailed off, looking into her eyes intently.</p>
<p>Astoria narrowed her eyes at him, waiting for a broad explanation of what he was talking about, "Okay? Now I'm genuinely confused."</p>
<p>"I'm a shapeshifter," he revealed.</p>
<p>She blinked at him, "You're a what now?"</p>
<p>"A shapeshifter who takes on a form of a werewolf," he told her.</p>
<p>"Are you sure this isn't some practical joke that you're trying to pull on me, Lahote?" she asked him.</p>
<p>Paul felt a pang on his chest after hearing the tone of her voice. "Just stand at the terrace and I'll show you," he ordered.</p>
<p>The girl quietly obeyed him, ascending the stairs, and stood at the terrace of their home then Astoria signaled for him to do whatever he had to do.</p>
<p>He immediately phased into his wolf form when she was safely standing away from him, howling unintentionally after. Paul then returned his gaze at Astoria who was wide-eyed and speechless, causing him to run away from her, leaving the girl even more confused than she already was.</p>
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<p>Shocked, worried, and confused were the right words to describe how she was feeling nowadays following Paul's revelation to her about him being a shapeshifter.</p>
<p>"Are you okay?" Daphne asked Astoria, waving her hand at the girl's face.</p>
<p>Astoria had been quiet the whole day, trying to process what had transpired a couple of days ago. To her, shapeshifters like Paul only existed in the bedtime stories that her grandfather used to tell her and her brothers when they were children, but in the end, everything in those stories turned out to be true.</p>
<p>"I'm okay, just tired from all the schoolwork that I had to catch up to," Astoria replied, closing her locker. "I'm going off first, I have to help Tobias with his English project," she lied, bidding her friend goodbye then left.</p>
<p>Astoria had spent the last school hour looking for any familiar faces that might tell her where Paul was — who she felt like he was avoiding her — but much to her disappointment, none of the people she was looking for were at school that day.</p>
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<p>That night, she sat alone at the steps of their back terrace, looking up at the stars. Astoria was recalling what happened the other night, thinking about how she could've reacted better when Paul revealed what he was.</p>
<p>Her alone time was interrupted when she felt someone sit beside her, making the girl turn her head, only to see her younger brother, Tobias.</p>
<p>"I thought you were playing PlayStation with the twins?" she asked, punching the younger boy on the shoulder playfully.</p>
<p>"You were acting weird the whole day," Tobias pointed out.</p>
<p>Astoria couldn't help but smile at the way Tobias was worrying about her, he was slowly showing his caring side again. She ruffled the younger boy's hair, "I'm just tired from all the schoolwork that I had to catch up with."</p>
<p>The two sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes before Astoria spoke first, "Remember the bedtime stories about the supernatural beings that gramps used to tell us?"</p>
<p>Tobias nodded. "The ones with vampires and shapeshifters who look like giant wolves?" he asked back.</p>
<p>"Yeah, those."</p>
<p>"What about them?"</p>
<p>"Have you ever wondered, what if they turned out to be true and are not just stories?" Astoria wondered.</p>
<p>He hummed, thinking deeply, "You know, I always had a hunch that some of the stories gramps used to tell us were real."</p>
<p>"Really?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, I mean, where else would gramps know about those if the stories weren't partly true?" Tobias stated.</p>
<p>After an hour of trading old stories, Tobias excused himself and retreated inside the house, leaving his sister still sitting alone on the stairs.</p>
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<p>Sam couldn't take any more of Paul's moping, he was already starting to get annoyed. It was unusual for him to see the younger boy act like somebody had stolen something important from him. He had a strong feeling that the cause of Paul's current mood was the result of an unsuccessful attempt of revealing his shapeshifter nature to his imprint.</p>
<p>"You should go see her," Sam ordered, looking at Paul with an intense gaze in his eyes.</p>
<p>"What for? Astoria already made it clear that she's scared of me after seeing the look on her face when I phased," Paul grumbled dejectedly.</p>
<p>Jared threw a leftover muffin towards him, "You're just assuming things, dumbass," He groused, "Stop acting like a puppy who's just been kicked and just do what Sam tells you to do."</p>
<p>"I will fucking murder you if you don't shut the hell up," Paul growled, throwing a deadly glare at Jared who only ignored him. But deep down, he knew that his brothers were right.</p>
<p>"You can't blame the poor girl for being scared, it was hard to believe at first even for me. She probably needed time to think and process what you told her," Emily reassured him. "Don't worry so much, I know that she's a good one,"</p>
<p>"Ask her to come to the bonfire," Embry quipped.</p>
<p>"Oh yeah, that's in a few days, right?" Quil asked, munching on a freshly baked muffin.</p>
<p>Sam gave him a curt nod, signaling him to leave.</p>
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<p>Paul found himself standing in front of her that night, the girl looked up from where she sat when she felt another person's presence.</p>
<p>Astoria's face immediately lit up upon seeing him, "Hey there," she muttered gently. "Look, about last ti—," she was cut off when Paul suddenly spoke.</p>
<p>"I know I shouldn't have run away so suddenly, it's just..." he sighed, finding the right words to say. "When I saw the look on your face, I thought I already fucked everything up," Paul admitted.</p>
<p>"If you're worried about me being scared shitless, I was, a little bit but I was more shocked and confused," Astoria reassured, chuckling softly. "Plus, it turns out, the bedtime stories that my grandfather used to tell us were true."</p>
<p>"There's a lot more that I didn't get the chance to tell you, if you're up for it you should come to the bonfire with me this coming weekend," he blurted out.</p>
<p>Astoria couldn't help but giggle at the way he was acting, she was very much used to his proud attitude and this awkward Paul was a new thing for her. "If this is your way of asking me to come with you, then count me in," she winked at him</p>
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